The Chyhyryn Regiment () was one of the seventeen territorial-administrative subdivisions of the Hetman State. The regiment's capital was the city of

Chyhyryn Chyhyryn ( ; ) is a city in Cherkasy Raion, Cherkasy Oblast, central Ukraine. It is located on Tiasmyn river not far where it enters Dnieper. From 1648 to 1669, the city served as the residence of the hetman of the Zaporizhian Host. After a f ...

, now in the

Cherkasy Oblast Cherkasy Oblast (, ), also referred to as Cherkashchyna (, ) is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in central Ukraine located along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. The Capital city, administrative center of the oblast is the cit ...

of central

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. The military units of the regiment were also known as the Hetman's Guard serving as personal guards of the

Hetman of the Zaporozhian Host The Hetman of the Zaporozhian Host (, ) was the head of state of the Cossack Hetmanate. The office was abolished by the Russian government in 1764. Brief history The position was established by Bohdan Khmelnytsky during the Cossack Hetmanate in ...

in 1648–1676.

History

The regiment was created as a result of the Treaty of Kurukove, between the

Zaporozhian Cossacks The Zaporozhian Cossacks (in Latin ''Cossacorum Zaporoviensis''), also known as the Zaporozhian Cossack Army or the Zaporozhian Host (), were Cossacks who lived beyond (that is, downstream from) the Dnieper Rapids. Along with Registered Cossa ...

and the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

which led the establishment of six

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

s of

Registered cossacks Registered Cossacks (, ) comprised special Cossack units of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth army in the 16th and 17th centuries. Registered Cossacks became a military formation of the Commonwealth army beginning in 1572 soon after the ...

that existed before the

Khmelnytsky Uprising The Khmelnytsky Uprising, also known as the Cossack–Polish War, Khmelnytsky insurrection, or the National Liberation War, was a Cossack uprisings, Cossack rebellion that took place between 1648 and 1657 in the eastern territories of the Poli ...

. The regiment occupied territory on both sides of the

Dnieper River The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

having eleven

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether natural, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specifi ...

on the

Right-bank Ukraine The Right-bank Ukraine is a historical and territorial name for a part of modern Ukraine on the right (west) bank of the Dnieper River, corresponding to the modern-day oblasts of Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad, as well as the western parts o ...

and eight on the

Left-bank Ukraine The Left-bank Ukraine is a historic name of the part of Ukraine on the left (east) bank of the Dnieper River, comprising the modern-day oblasts of Chernihiv, Poltava and Sumy as well as the eastern parts of Kyiv and Cherkasy. Left-bank Ukrain ...

. In the east it bordered the

Korsun regiment Korsun may refer to: ;Places * Korsun, Slavic name for the ancient Greek colony of Chersonesos Taurica in Crimea * a name of Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi, Ukraine before 1944 * Korsun, Donetsk Oblast, an urban-type settlement in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine ...

, on the north of the right-bank the Cherkasy regiment, and on the north side of the left-bank the Kropyvna regiment. When the Khmelnytsky uprising occurred the regiment became part of the

Cossack Hetmanate The Cossack Hetmanate (; Cossack Hetmanate#Name, see other names), officially the Zaporozhian Host (; ), was a Ukrainian Cossacks, Cossack state. Its territory was located mostly in central Ukraine, as well as in parts of Belarus and southwest ...

, where the city of Chyhyryn served as the first capital of the Hetmanate and the official residence of the

hetman ''Hetman'' is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders (comparable to a field marshal or imperial marshal in the Holy Roman Empire). First used by the Czechs in Bohemia in the 15th century, ...

. Following the signing of the

Treaty of Zboriv The Treaty of Zboriv was signed on August 18, 1649, after the Battle of Zboriv when the Crown forces of about 35,000, led by King John II Casimir of Poland, clashed against a combined force of Cossacks and Crimean Tatars, led by Hetman Bohdan Khm ...

in 1649, it consisted of a total of 19 sotnias and had 3,222 registered Cossacks. When a

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

emerged among the cossacks, the Hetmanate was split along the

into Left-Bank Ukraine and Right-Bank Ukraine, which placed the regiment under the control of Right-bank Ukraine hetmans. After the

Treaty of Andrusovo The Truce of Andrusovo (, , also sometimes known as Treaty of Andrusovo) established a thirteen-and-a-half year truce, signed on between the Tsardom of Russia and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which had fought the Russo-Polish War sin ...

in 1667, the Right-bank Ukraine and its regiments came under the administration of Poland; while the left-bank companies of the Chyhyryn regiment were transferred to the

Myrhorod regiment The Myrhorod Regiment () was one of the 10 territorial-administrative subdivisions of the Cossack Hetmanate. The regiment's capital was the city of Myrhorod, now in Poltava Oblast of central Ukraine. The Myrhorod Regiment was founded in 1648. In ...

. During the hetmancy of

Petro Doroshenko Petro Dorofiiovich Doroshenko (; 1627–1698) was a Cossack political and military leader, Hetman of right-bank Ukraine (1665–1672) and a Russian voivode. Background and early career Petro Doroshenko was born in Chyhyryn into a noble ...

the southern portion of the Right-bank Ukraine became a Turkish protectorate under the administration of Doroshenko with Chyhyryn as its capital. Following the signing of the

Treaty of Karlowitz The Treaty of Karlowitz, concluding the Great Turkish War of 1683–1699, in which the Ottoman Empire was defeated by the Holy League at the Battle of Zenta, was signed in Karlowitz, in the Military Frontier of the Habsburg Monarchy (present-day ...

, Polish authority was reinstated on the territory in 1699. The regiment came under the jurisdiction of

Ivan Mazepa Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa (; ; ) was the Hetman of the Zaporozhian Host and the Left-bank Ukraine in 1687–1708. The historical events of Mazepa's life have inspired Cultural legacy of Mazeppa, many literary, artistic and musical works. He was ...

in 1704, who reunited both banks under his rule during the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

, but was dissolved in 1712 when the territory was returned to the

and its population was transferred to Left-Bank Ukraine.

Structure

The regiment comprised 19 sotnias with eleven of these companies from the Right-Bank, and eight from the Left-Bank:

Right-Bank Ukraine

*Bakliiv *Borovytsia *Buzhyn *Chyhyryn *Kryliv *Medvedivka *Oloviatyn *Orliv *Smila *Voroniv *Zhabotyn

Left-Bank Ukraine

*Hovtva *Kremenchuk *Maksymiv *Omelnyk *Ostapiv *Potik *Vermiivka

External links

Encyclopedia of Ukraine
{{Cossack Regiments Cossack Hetmanate Regiments History of Cherkasy Oblast 1625 establishments in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth